Well, I made it back home to Oregon last week for spring break and it was SO lovely! I got to see many of you and regret that I missed seeing some of you as well. The week flew by! But I'll be back in June...
Speaking of which -- yes, the decision has been made to return to Eugene and to resume living with the love of my life (Vince). So much has happened, lots of soul searching, lots of healing, some rather dramatic epiphanies. No one to blame, no regrets, it seems clear to me that this is a process we had to go through. I'm very much at peace with the decision and relieved to be able to love once again without reservation. Limbo is a difficult place to be.
So, the third term of my time at the Ayurvedic Institute is under way. This term will be mostly clinical experience, working with real clients! Very exciting to finally be putting all this knowledge into practice. It looks a little daunting, but I'm up for it.
Just before spring break we began practicing working with Marma points in our evening lectures, and will continue this week. Amazing! Marmani are the vital energy points of the body analogous to acupuncture points in Chinese medicine. Indeed, many of the points are the same, with different names and slightly different interpretations of how they function. Dr. Lad recently published a beautiful book on Marmani, which he co-authored with a doctor of Chinese medicine. So we've been practicing on each other in class, and it's been SO relaxing and delightful to experience the healing human touch. Of course, we don't really know what we're doing yet, but it's fun to experiment on each other. We are also working with marma points in our yoga classes, learning how to stimulate these points in asana, which is equally fascinating.
It was interesting to return to this crazy, harsh, high altitude, bone-dry environment again after being in soft, moist, green, soothing Oregon for a week. What a great laboratory the body is for understanding the elements of nature and how they affect us from an Ayurvedic perspective. I felt the changes quite dramatically, and realized that it would have served me well to return a day earlier to ease back into my routine here. But then again, it was worth it to have that extra day with loved ones. So I'm back to working with techniques and foods that are grounding and soothing. I have found that abhyanga (self-massage with oil) is incredibly effective for soothing the nervous system, as well as warm spiced milk before bed. How delightful to have a deeper understanding of the principle of balance and to know how to achieve it in response to changing conditions in my environment. This stuff really works.
OK, I must study now. Love to all - and Happy Spring!!
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